{ playing with light - Lindsay + Tyson }

So I'm sitting here cold, and hot, and cold, and hot... with a fever on Halloween. LAME! My dearest TV is boring me, my medicine is taking forever to kick in, my husband is out of town for business, and I needed something to distract me from my misery. Bring on my latest project! My husband may tsk-tsk me for 'working' when I'm sick, but honestly this shoot made me so happy that it doesn't feel like work at all.

Flashback to last week... I had the opportunity to go to my first big workshop with Amelia and Justin Lyon. I have followed their work for some time now, and have always had huge respect for their photography skill, creativeness, and business sense. I don't want to steal their style, but I believe that if you learn from the best, you will go places. And I want to go places! I learned an incredible amount, and I'm still trying to process all the great info they shared, but my first order of business was to master off camera flash. So here is my first attempt at using flash. I'd love to hear what you think... leave a comment if you want to share your thoughts.

PS: Lindsay, thanks so much for being so hot and being my model. Sorry I got sick and ruined out co-Halloween costume for the party tonight :-(

And Tyson, thank you for driving all the way down from Long Beach.... on a Friday night to pose for me... even though we didn't really even know each other. You're awesome!

Ok, ok this first one is natural light, but it's not somewhere I would've chosen to shoot a couple weeks ago because of the harsh light... cool shadow, huh?

That's right, Lindsay is going for a bit of liquid courage here... she and Tyson barely know each other, but here I am asking them to look like a couple. Thanks guys!

A little Wes Anderson inspired... just watched The Darjeeling Limited the other night.

Awe, she's so pretty... my bestie, Sarah did her make-up...

Ok, here's the flash... a bit harsh, but fun... right?

Do you like the left photo or the right? With a flash by their feet or not?

One of my favorites!

Another favorite...

Nice bangs, Tyson :-)

Damn, Lindsay...

{ the touzard family, part 3 }

Every time I see this family my heart gets happy. I first met them last year when I took Rachelle's maternity portraits, and then again when Jazelle was born 3 months ago. Rachelle and Karl have nothing but love for their little girl, each other... and pictures. Lucky for me, I'm their photographer and I get to see them every 3 months till Jazzy is one. :-)

Can't wait for December when Jazzy turns 6 months old and makes both my heart and my camera happy again. Until then here's some adorableness from her 3 month shoot:

Rachelle's cousins had little ladies right around the time she did, so they got them all together for a quick photo. They are all soooooo gorgeous, huh?

I swear she could've stayed right here all night long... she was so content.

Can you believe this is their front yard? Beautiful home...

Jazelle's Auntie was over for a visit.

As long as there's no slobber involved she just loves her little niece. LOL.

One of my favorites from the day:

All time most gorgeous light. Ever. I love their yard!

Cats generally make me sneezy and miserable... so I don't really like them much. But, if I were ever going to like a cat, this one would be it. :-)

Rachelle and Karl give each other the most amazing looks... it makes capturing their family's moments so easy and special.

Mommy!

Num, num, num...

{ holiday cards }

So, I finally found a moment to play around with Holiday Card designs. It's honestly been hanging over my head since, oh, August. I'm so relieved to have some designs ready to go!

Here is just a small sample of what there is to choose from... and keep in mind all the colors, fonts, and words can be customized to fit your personality. Hope you like them!

This is one of my favorites!

Cleaner lines...

A bit more fun...

{ the wagner family }

Meet one of my very first clients, the Wagner family. I photographed them a couple years ago when I was brand spakin' new to the digital SLR world.... I'm so glad they stuck by me! LOL.

We met at one of my favorite photo locations, the Orange Circle last weekend and I was thrilled to find that the kids had their smiles locked and loaded, and were not only willing to take family portraits, but actually excited about it. Whoohoo!

Here are some of my favorites of the day:

Just love Nolan's eyes...

The 'what is your boyfriend's name again?' trick never fails...

These kids hit the gene-pool jackpot for gorgeous eyes.

I love Logan's expression in this one... it makes me laugh a little.

To be honest, Avalon would have loved it if I gave her her own space for a moment, but I had to snap this shot first...

{ serena + jon }

Serena and Jon are absolutely fantastic! Meeting them for the first time on their wedding day was a bit nerve-wracking, but I really couldn't have been more pleased- they're a beautiful couple, madly in love, and super easy-going. Once they saw each other at the ceremony they only had eyes for each other for the rest of the night, I loved watching them.

So, here are a few of my favorites from the day... Enjoy!

I love seeing everybody work together to help the bride get ready...

When I grow up and have a studio, this wall is being exactly replicated. I LOVE it!

So what do you think about the motion in this next one? I have another one that is super sharp, but I find this one more interesting.... thoughts?

Love the light, love the bride, love the location... love love love!

Her mom is just so in love with her daughter...

I really have to hand it to these two, they hiked up a hill, back down, and then back up another one to get to this spot... and they did it without even hesitating.

One of my favorites:

They were all smiles all day.

And I'll leave you with the first dance:

Thanks for looking! I'd love to hear your thoughts, leave a comment if you have anything to say :-)